411 spoilt ballots in by-elections

Politics / 20 February 2014, 09:04am

SAPA

Johannesburg - Voters spoilt a total of 411 ballot papers during Wednesday's municipal by-elections in 10 wards around the country, according to results released by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Citizens in only one ward - Thaba Chweu in Mpumalanga - did not spoil a single ballot.

The highest number of spoilt votes was recorded in Ward 48 of KwaZulu-Natal's eThekwini metro with 116 spoilt ballots, followed by its Ward 49 with 102.

In Cape Town, Ward 35 had 51 spoilt votes, followed by the nearby Ward 43 with 46 spoilt votes.

Greater Taung recorded 37 spoilt votes, and the Hibiscus Coast had 19.

Closely behind was Lephalale in Limpopo and Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape with 15 spoilt votes each.

At the bottom was Kgatelopele in the Northern Cape with 10 spoilt votes.

The 10 wards were contested by 37 candidates, representing 13 political parties and four independent candidates.

Four of the previous councillors had died, three had resigned, and three were expelled by their parties.

The ANC won six of the wards and the DA secured the remaining four.

A spoilt vote is a ballot cast that cannot be counted, usually because the paper was filled in in a manner that made the choice unclear. - Sapa